Near field communication antenna device of mobile terminal

ABSTRACT

A near field communication antenna device of a mobile terminal having a near field communication antenna function of 13.56 MHz by Alternating Current (AC) coupling a conductive pattern of a touch screen panel is provided. The device includes a conductive pattern formed in a touch screen panel, a first antenna line AC-coupled to one end of the conductive pattern, a second antenna line AC-coupled to the other end of the conductive pattern, and a near field communication module connected to the first antenna line and the second antenna line. Therefore, a near field communication antenna can be embodied using a conductive pattern of an existing touch screen panel. Accordingly, an increase in thickness and material cost of a mobile terminal can be prevented.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation application of a prior applicationSer. No. 13/530,697, filed on Jun. 22, 2012, which claimed the benefitunder 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on Jul. 13,2011 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial No.10-2011-0069259, the entire disclosures of each of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a near field communication antennadevice of a mobile terminal. More particularly, the present inventionrelates to a near field communication antenna device of a mobileterminal having a near field communication antenna function of 13.56 MHzby Alternating Current (AC) coupling a conductive pattern of a touchscreen panel.

2. Description of the Related Art

Nowadays, as data sharing, payment, and ticketing using a mobileterminal increase, a near field communication antenna device is mountedin the mobile terminal. In order to perform communication of a neardistance of 10 to 20 cm using a low frequency of 13.56 MHz (±7 kHz), thenear field communication antenna device has an Inductor Capacitor (LC)resonance loop antenna of a method of using magnetic coupling.

FIG. 1 is a rear view illustrating a mobile terminal having a near fieldcommunication antenna device according to the related art. Forreference, in a mobile terminal 101 shown in FIG. 1, a rear case (notshown) is exposed.

Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile terminal near field communication antennadevice 100 formed with an antenna line forming a loop is mounted withina battery 102 mounted in the mobile terminal 101.

FIG. 2 is a rear view illustrating a mobile terminal having a near fieldcommunication antenna device according to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 2, a mobile terminal near field communication antennadevice 200 formed with an antenna line forming a loop is mounted withina rear case 203 of a mobile terminal 201.

Because such mobile terminal near field communication antenna devices100 and 200 of the related art are formed with an antenna line formed atthe inside of the battery 102 or the inside of the rear case 203, athickness of the battery 102 or the rear case 203 increases by about 0.4T. Accordingly, the thickness of the mobile terminals 101 and 201 alsoincreases. Furthermore, because a separate antenna line should beformed, a material cost of the mobile terminal increases.

Therefore, a need exists for a mobile terminal near field communicationantenna device that can embody a near field communication antenna usinga conductive pattern of an existing touch screen panel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention are to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentinvention is to provide a mobile terminal near field communicationantenna device that can embody a near field communication antenna usinga conductive pattern of an existing touch screen panel.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a near fieldcommunication antenna device of a mobile terminal is provided. Thedevice includes a conductive pattern formed in a touch screen panel, afirst antenna line Alternating Current (AC)-coupled to one end of theconductive pattern, a second antenna line AC-coupled to the other end ofthe conductive pattern, and a near field communication module connectedto the first antenna line and the second antenna line.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a rear view illustrating a mobile terminal having a near fieldcommunication antenna device according to the related art;

FIG. 2 is a rear view illustrating a mobile terminal having a near fieldcommunication antenna device according to the related art;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobileterminal near field communication antenna device according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a rear view illustrating a window forming a touch screen panelin the mobile terminal of FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a touch screen panel Flexible Printed Circuit Board(FPCB) of the near field communication antenna device of FIG. 3according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration in which afirst terminal pad of a conductive pattern and a terminal pad of a firstantenna line form Alternating Current (AC) coupling taken along lineA-A′ of FIG. 4 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration in which afirst terminal pad of a conductive pattern and a terminal pad of a firstantenna line form AC coupling according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration in which afirst terminal pad of a conductive pattern and a terminal pad of a firstantenna line form AC coupling according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplaryembodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the embodiments described hereincan be made without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of theinvention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention is provided for illustration purpose only and not forthe purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claimsand their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic,parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations orvariations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error,measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those ofskill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effectthe characteristic was intended to provide.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention proposed herein relate toa mobile terminal near field communication antenna device that canembody a near field communication antenna using a conductive pattern ofan existing touch screen panel.

FIGS. 3 through 8, discussed below, and the various exemplaryembodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure inthis patent document are by way of illustration only and should not beconstrued in any way that would limit the scope of the disclosure. Thoseskilled in the art will understand that the principles of the presentdisclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communicationssystem. The terms used to describe various embodiments are exemplary. Itshould be understood that these are provided to merely aid theunderstanding of the description, and that their use and definitions inno way limit the scope of the invention. Terms first, second, and thelike are used to differentiate between objects having the sameterminology and are in no way intended to represent a chronologicalorder, unless where explicitly stated otherwise. A set is defined as anon-empty set including at least one element.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a near fieldcommunication antenna device of a mobile terminal according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a rear viewillustrating a window forming a touch screen panel in the mobileterminal of FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, FIG. 5 illustrates a touch screen panel Flexible PrintedCircuit Board (FPCB) of the near field communication antenna device ofFIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration inwhich a first terminal pad of a conductive pattern and a terminal pad ofa first antenna line form Alternating Current (AC) coupling taken alongline A-A′ of FIG. 4 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. For reference, an X-axis direction, a Y-axis direction, and aZ-axis direction illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6 are a length direction,width direction, and thickness direction, respectively, of a touchscreen panel 311.

Referring to FIGS. 3 through 6, a mobile terminal near fieldcommunication antenna device 300 is described. The mobile terminal nearfield communication antenna device 300 includes a touch screen panel311, a touch screen panel FPCB 320, a first antenna line 323 a, a secondantenna line 323 b, a near field communication module 330, a touchscreen panel Integrated Circuit (IC) 340, and a controller 350.

The touch screen panel 311 detects a user touch to a specific point ofan image displayed in a display 360. The touch screen panel 311 includesa window 312, a conductive pattern 313, a touch key sensor 315, and atouch screen sensor (not shown). The window 312 performs a function ofdisplaying an image displayed in the display 360 to the user whileprotecting the display 360 from the outside. The touch screen sensor maybe formed in a rear surface of the window 312, or may be formed in afilm (not shown) disposed at a rear side of the window 312. The touchkey sensor 315 detects a user touch to a touch key (not shown) and isformed in a rear surface of the window 312. The conductive pattern 313performs a function of outputting touch information that is input to thetouch key sensor 315 to the touch screen panel FPCB 320. The conductivepattern 313 is formed in a loop shape in a rear surface of the window312. At one end of the conductive pattern 313, a first terminal pad 314a for contacting with a first contact point 321 a electrically connectedto the touch screen panel IC 340 is formed, and at the other end of theconductive pattern 313, a second terminal pad 314 b for contacting witha second contact point (not shown) electrically connected to the touchscreen panel IC 340 is formed.

The touch screen panel FPCB 320 outputs touch information processed inthe touch screen panel IC 340 to the controller 350 while mounting thetouch screen panel IC 340. The first contact point 321 a for outputtingtouch information received in the first terminal pad 314 a of theconductive pattern 313 to the touch screen panel IC 340 and a secondcontact point for outputting touch information received in the secondterminal pad 314 b of the conductive pattern 313 to the touch screenpanel IC 340 are formed in the touch screen panel FPCB 320.

The touch screen panel IC 340 processes touch information input from atouch screen sensor or the touch key sensor 315 and outputs the touchinformation to the controller 350. The touch screen panel IC 340 ismounted in the touch screen panel FPCB 320.

A first antenna line 323 a is AC-coupled to the first terminal pad 314 aof the conductive pattern 313 and is a conductive line connected to thenear field communication module 330. At one end of the first antennaline 323 a, a terminal pad 322 a AC-coupled to the first terminal pad314 a of the conductive pattern 313 is formed. AC coupling intercepts adirect current signal by capacitance C formed between two terminal pads314 a and 322 a and passes through only an alternating current signal.

A second antenna line 323 b is AC-coupled to the second terminal pad 314b of the conductive pattern 313 and is a conductive line connected tothe near field communication module 330. At one end of the secondantenna line 323 b, a terminal pad 322 b AC-coupled to the secondterminal pad 314 b of the conductive pattern 313 is formed.

Referring to FIG. 6, an exemplary embodiment of a configuration in whichthe first terminal pad 314 a of the conductive pattern 313 and theterminal pad 322 a of the first antenna line 323 a form AC coupling isdescribed. The first terminal pad 314 a of the conductive pattern 313 isseparated by a predefined gap G1 in an X-axis direction from theterminal pad 322 a of the first antenna line 323 a. Capacitance C isrepresented by EXAM (i.e., g is a dielectric constant, A is an opposingarea of terminal pads, and d is a distance between terminal pads).Therefore, since an opposing area of the first terminal pad 314 a of theconductive pattern 313 and the terminal pad 322 a of the first antennaline 323 a is small, by reducing a gap G1 between the first terminal pad314 a of the conductive pattern 313 and the terminal pad 322 a of thefirst antenna line 323 a, desired capacitance C can be obtained.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration in which afirst terminal pad of a conductive pattern and a terminal pad of a firstantenna line form AC coupling according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, a configuration in which a first terminal pad 414 aof a conductive pattern 413 and a terminal pad 422 a of a first antennaline 423 a form AC coupling is described. The conductive pattern 413 isformed in a loop shape in a rear surface of a window 412. The firstterminal pad 414 a of the conductive pattern 413 and the terminal pad422 a of the first antenna line 423 a are separated by a predefined gapG2 in a Z-axis direction. A first contact point 421 a is formed forcontacting with the first terminal pad 414 a. A touch screen panel FPCB420 is formed by attaching a lower layer FPCB 425 having the firstantenna line 423 a and the terminal pad 422 a to a lower surface of anupper layer FPCB 426 with which the first terminal pad 414 a of theconductive pattern 413 contacts.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration in which afirst terminal pad of a conductive pattern and a terminal pad of a firstantenna line form AC coupling according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, a configuration in which a first terminal pad 514 aof a conductive pattern 513 and a terminal pad 522 a of a first antennaline 523 a form AC coupling is described. The first terminal pad 514 aof the conductive pattern 513 is connected to the terminal pad 522 a ofthe first antenna line 523 a through a lumped element capacitor 524 a.Accordingly, accurate capacitance C can be obtained by the lumpedelement capacitor 524 a. The conductive pattern 513 is formed in a loopshape in a rear surface of a window 512 and a first contact point 521 ais formed in a touch screen panel FPCB 520 for contacting with the firstterminal pad 514 a.

FIGS. 6 through 8 illustrate AC coupling between the first terminal pads314 a, 414 a, and 514 a of the conductive patterns 313, 413, and 513 andthe terminal pads 322 a, 422 a, and 522 a of the first antenna lines 323a, 423 a, and 523 a. However, AC coupling between the second terminalpad of a conductive pattern and a terminal pad of the second antennaline is formed in a similar method.

The near field communication module 330 processes a signal transmittedand received between the first antenna line 323 a, the second antennaline 323 b and the controller 350, and the controller 350 controls thedisplay 360 or the near field communication module 330 according to asignal transmitted from the touch screen panel IC 340 or the near fieldcommunication module 330.

According to an exemplary implementation, the first and second terminalpads 314 a and 314 b formed at both ends of the conductive pattern 313are AC-coupled to the terminal pads 322 a and 322 b of the first andsecond antenna lines 323 a and 323 b connected to the near fieldcommunication module 330. Accordingly, a near field communication can beperformed using the conductive pattern 313 of the existing touch screenpanel 311.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a mobileterminal near field communication antenna device includes a first andsecond antenna lines AC-coupled to each of both ends of a conductivepattern formed in a touch screen panel and connected to the near fieldcommunication module and thus a near field communication antenna can beembodied using a conductive pattern of an existing touch screen panel.Accordingly, an increase in thickness and material cost of a mobileterminal can be prevented.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereto, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a conductive pattern disposed within a touch screen panel; an antenna line Alternating Current (AC)-coupled with the conductive pattern; and a communication device connected to the antenna line, wherein the communication device is configured to perform near field communication using the conductive pattern disposed within the touch screen panel, and wherein the AC coupling is configured to intercept a direct current signal and pass through only an alternating current signal by capacitance formed between a terminal pad of the conductive pattern and a terminal pad of the antenna line.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: at least one processor configured to transmit a signal via the antenna line, the at least one processor operatively coupled with the apparatus.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit another signal via the conductive pattern to detect a touch.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: another antenna line Alternating Current (AC)-coupled with the conductive pattern.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the other antenna line is connected to the communication device.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a terminal formed at an end of the conductive pattern.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the terminal and at least a portion of the antenna line form a capacitance.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising: another terminal formed at another end of the conductive pattern.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the other terminal and at least a portion of another antenna line form a capacitance, the other antenna line Alternating Current (AC)-coupled with the conductive pattern.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conductive pattern is formed in a loop shape.
 11. A portable terminal comprising: a window for transmitting an image displayed via a display operatively coupled with the portable terminal; a touch screen panel disposed on or over the window, the touch screen panel including a conductive pattern; an antenna line Alternating Current (AC)-coupled with the conductive pattern; and a communication device connected to the antenna line, wherein the communication device is configured to perform near field communication using the conductive pattern included in the touch screen panel, and wherein the AC coupling is configured to intercept a direct current signal and pass through only an alternating current signal by capacitance formed between a terminal pad of the conductive pattern and a terminal pad of the antenna line.
 12. The portable terminal of claim 11, further comprising: at least one processor configured to transmit a signal via the communication device, the at least one processor operatively coupled with the portable terminal.
 13. The portable terminal of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit another signal via the conductive pattern.
 14. The portable terminal of claim 12, further comprising: a printed circuit board disposed on or over the touch screen panel, the at least one processor disposed on the printed circuit board.
 15. The portable terminal of claim 11, further comprising: another antenna line Alternating Current (AC)-coupled with the conductive pattern.
 16. The portable terminal of claim 15, wherein the other antenna line is connected to the communication device.
 17. The portable terminal of claim 11, wherein the conductive pattern is disposed on or over the window.
 18. The portable terminal of claim 11, further comprising: a film disposed in the touch screen panel, the conductive pattern disposed on or over the film.
 19. The portable terminal of claim 11, wherein the touch screen panel includes at least one of a touch screen sensor and a touch key.
 20. An apparatus comprising: a conductive pattern disposed within a touch screen panel operatively coupled with the apparatus; an antenna line Alternating Current (AC)-coupled with the conductive pattern; and at least one processor connected to the antenna line, the at least one processor configured to transmit a signal via the antenna line, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform near field communication using the conductive pattern disposed within the touch screen panel, and wherein the AC coupling is configured to intercept a direct current signal and pass through only an alternating current signal by capacitance formed between a terminal pad of the conductive pattern and a terminal pad of the antenna line. 